After about one year's exile on the island of Elba, Napoleon returned to France in 1815 and reclaimed his throne. Shortly afterwards, he passed a decree to abolish all restrictions on the liberty of the press. "All I desire is information of the truth," he said.
Several of his ministers remonstrated with him on the inexpediency of this measure, and on the dangerous consequences which must necessarily follow. "My faith,* gentlemen," Napoleon said to them, "that is your affair; for myself, I have nothing to fear. I defy any one to write or print greater falsehoods against me than I have read during the last year."
拿破崙遭放逐厄爾巴島將近一年之後，一八一五年回到法國，重登王位。不久，他頒布命令，廢除限制新聞自由的所有法例。他說：「我要的，是事實報道。」
有幾位大臣向拿破崙進言，說那命令恐有未便，而且一定會有惡果。拿破崙回答：「各位，容我不客氣說一句，這是你們的事，對我而言，則沒有什麼要擔心。過去一年，我讀到無數誹謗我的文字，還有什麼人所寫或所發表的東西，能夠比那些文字更加狠毒。」
* My faith是by my faith的縮畧，意思是「誠然」或「老實說」。這是舊式英語，今天幾乎已不見使用。此外還有in faith一詞，也是by my faith的意思，往往畧作i'faith或faith，今天和by my faith一樣罕見。